civilwarnovels Chapter 4153 When the Pumpkin Ripens (35)
Chapter 4153 When the Pumpkin Ripens (35)
Chapter 4153 When the Pumpkins Ripen (Thirty-Five)
As the doorbell rang softly, Barry entered the café. The previous clerk, who seemed to be taking stock of the store's supplies, was startled to see someone enter.
"Isn't it under martial law now? Oh, right, you're a special agent, you should have special permission to move around, right? Can I see it?"
Barry immediately opened Brainiac's software and showed him the pass interface. This was Brainiac's requirement for everyone: once someone came to visit, their pass had to be checked first. Because at the beginning of martial law, many people secretly ran away or wanted to go to relatives' homes, and if the checks weren't strict, it would be as if martial law hadn't been enforced at all.
Seeing the pass, the clerk breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled at Barry and said, "My last shift said someone came to buy coffee. I thought it was a policeman, but it turned out to be you. May I ask what happened?"
Logically speaking, Barry shouldn't have revealed it, but Brainiac seemed completely unconcerned, so Barry just told him.
"Ah, yes, some important things are missing. But they weren't actually dangerous items, just research materials, though there's evidence that they might have been made by aliens."
"Oh God, it's aliens again. Do aliens have nothing better to do all day? Why are they always eyeing Earth?"
“Of course, it’s because this place is a geomantically auspicious location.” Barry laughed and said, “The Earth’s natural environment is quite good, so naturally some people would want to take advantage of it. More importantly, many ancient treasures have been left behind here, which are more like readily available treasures to many people.”
"Research materials are one of them?"
"I'm not too sure about that either, since I'm not a researcher. But since it was stolen by aliens, it must be something very important." Barry nodded and said, "By the way, I smell a strong pumpkin scent. Have you launched some new product?"
“Oh, yes,” the other person said, “a pumpkin milkshake. But it’s not available for sale yet, it’s just for internal staff to try. I haven’t had the one I just made yet, would you like to try it?”
"Is it a newly bred pumpkin variety?"
"Yes, it's that kind of big pumpkin. That kind of pumpkin has a lot of fiber, so the texture won't be very good if it's not mashed, but the pumpkin flavor is very strong, making it perfect for desserts and drinks. Brainiac encourages all dessert shops to try pumpkin-flavored desserts, and so far, customer reviews are very positive."
“I also like pumpkin,” Barry said with a smile. “Could you make me two pumpkin smoothies? I’ll pay as usual.”
The staff quickly placed two large cups of drinks on the counter and said, "This is an unfinished version, so we can't charge you. Please write a review on the app after you've tried it. Thank you so much."
"Okay, no problem, I'll definitely give an honest review. Also, please pack me another donut, and one of these pretzel too..."
Barry bought everything again. A flash of gold, and he was back in his office. Jenna waved to him and said, "Look at this."
"What is this?" Barry asked, leaning closer.
“The statement from Principal Sivana, one of the eyewitnesses at the scene. He said that before they left, he had advised Brainiac, reminding him not to leave valuable research materials there carelessly. But Batman said it was fine.”
“This isn’t normal.” Barry frowned and walked over, saying, “Batman always wants security measures thicker than the earth’s crust, why would he say something like this?”
“Unless he knew something beforehand,” Jenna said, looking down at the photos. “These photos are also a bit strange.”
"Is something strange?" Barry walked over and took a look; he hadn't really looked closely before. But even now, he felt something was off.
“That’s so typical,” Barry said.
“That’s right. This is a very typical crime scene: marks on the windowsill, footprints on the ground, ransacked documents, and the missing stolen items. Even someone with absolutely no criminal investigation experience could tell what happened here.”
“Yes. But the problem is, Brainiac said this might be the work of a superhuman. What kind of superpowers are involved? And why would aliens use such typical methods to steal?”
“So I suspect this scene is staged.” Jenna pointed at the picture and said, “The other party wanted everyone to know that this was a theft, that someone stole something from here, preferably something so simple that it could be seen at a glance.”
The two exchanged a glance, confirming their suspicions. They then stopped talking about staging the crime scene and began analyzing the stolen items.
However, they didn't know much about the Mother Box either, and just kept repeating the same things over and over. Barry's keen hearing picked up on several noises in the stairwell, and the two of them would exchange a knowing glance and a mysterious smile whenever they heard a sound.
Inside Wayne Manor, Jason found the main universe's Batman in the underground laboratory. He asked, somewhat surprised, "What are you doing here? Why didn't you go to the original laboratory?"
“Huh? Some of the equipment is only available here.” The Batman from the main universe spoke vaguely. Jason didn’t ask any further questions. He placed the prepared risotto on the table next to him and said, “Even when you’re busy with research, you still have to eat on time.”
“Thank you, Jason,” the main universe Batman said sincerely. “Your cooking is really good. Yesterday’s burger was probably the best cheeseburger I’ve ever had.”
“You talk like you’ve eaten countless hamburgers,” Jason laughed. “This must be junk food to you, right?”
The main universe's Batman shook his head and said, "Like I said, I'll do that when I need to replenish my energy with high-calorie food. But I also admit that when that happens, I'm usually not in the mood to savor the food. Yesterday was an exception."
"I'm glad you went to such lengths to find a reasonable reason for your praise. I'm very happy, thank you."
After Jason left, the main universe's Batman stared blankly at his retreating figure. Then, almost unconsciously, he opened his phone and searched for "British Classics" on Brainiac's app.
“Stop searching,” Brainiac reminded him at the opportune moment. “It’s clearly not this major that changed Jason. Don’t have unrealistic fantasies, Batman. I don’t think I need to remind you to focus on your work.”
“You don’t need to remind me of anything,” the main universe Batman said. “Of course I know it’s not just this profession that changed Jason, but you wouldn’t be happy if I searched for Schiller Rodriguez here.”
Brainiac remained silent. He exhibited a passive resistance to anything concerning Schiller. Rather than resistance, it was more like escapism, but unfortunately, he usually couldn't escape it.
After failing to get Greed to vomit up the three medical kits, Brainiac didn't choose to continue replenishing them, because he figured he'd likely swallow whatever was sent over anyway. In any case, if something went wrong, he'd just vomit it all up.
Now a new problem is troubling Brainiac: the agent is determined to go out. He tries everything—appealing to his emotions and reasoning—but nothing works.
Although he didn't know why the agent was so adamant about not living with his counterpart, Brainiac knew he didn't seem to have the power to force him to stay. So, he had no choice but to transfer the agent to the Federal Shield office.
Barry wasn't surprised to see the agent. Although he didn't yet know what Brainiac was up to, if they really had any enemies to deal with, the agent would definitely be their best helper.
It's not that other people aren't good helpers, but there's no doubt that asking an agent for help is the least costly option, and he's always happy to help, decisive, and an accurate shot—a good helper in any situation.
Jenna seemed to be seeing Schiller so young for the first time. She was somewhat surprised and circled the agent a few times, but couldn't discern anything unusual. So she continued discussing the lesson with Barry.
Before he could say more than a few words, the detective sighed deeply: "I thought that by leaving the house of arrogance and coming here, I could escape those terrible psychoanalytic theories. I never imagined that you were also disciples of arrogance. What is wrong with this world?"
"You don't know psychoanalysis?!" The two of them seemed to have suddenly discovered a new continent, and they moved closer to the agent, one on each side, staring at him intently.
"I thought it was a good thing that a person didn't talk in their sleep."
"Oh—" the two men exclaimed in unison, then scattered with a thud. The detective reached for the photos, examined them carefully, shook his head, and said, "What on earth is greed up to?"
The two men swarmed over again and said, "Greed? You mean, Dr. Schiller did this? How did you know?"
The detective snorted, held up two fingers, and said, "Even if you're studying psychoanalysis, you must remember two things: First, any strange thing that happens where greed is involved is bound to be related to him; second, in anything involving greed, if anything seems puzzling to you, just think of him."
Barry and Jenna exchanged a glance, seemingly feeling that this method of judgment was too hasty. But the detective threw down the pile of photos and said, "If you don't believe me, let's make a bet on whether this theft is related to greed or not."
Barry licked his lips and said, "If we're talking about connections, hearing about it or expressing an opinion counts as a connection."
"Then let's bet on whether this whole affair was orchestrated by greed, with even Brainiac playing a supporting role."
“Okay,” Barry nodded, “but how do we verify it?”
“Of course, you should just ask him directly,” the agent said. “Greed never has secret plans. If you want to know what he’s planning, the best way is to just ask him directly. That way, you can also prevent him from saying, ‘It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, it’s just that you didn’t ask me in the first place.’”
“This is too hasty,” Barry couldn’t help but say. “Aren’t these kinds of masterminds all riddle-makers? They never reveal their plans until the very last moment, and even after the plan is completed, they will keep it a secret for decades before revealing it.”
“Of course not, at least not greed.” The agent shook his head, stood up and said, “He has no reason to hide his plan, because the outcome is unchangeable regardless of who he hides it from. If you don’t believe me, just try it.”
Barry hesitated slightly, but he still decided to make the trip. Although they were prepared to start the business because of Brainiac's unusual behavior, they were still not entirely at ease. If they could learn the truth from his greed, they would no longer have to go against their conscience.
With his superhuman speed, he was clearly the best choice to make this trip. He vanished in a flash, and when he reappeared, he was in Schiller's house.
Pride and greed aren't in the buildings, but in the backyard. When Barry approached Greed and asked him this question, Greed gave a look of recollection and said, "Oh, I see. I was just about to tell you about my plan."